Seth crept alongside the building. This place was huge and his job was all the way up in the tower. It was a risky job with all the stairs and hallways but he wasn't going to back down. He had accepted the job and he would complete it. All he had was his name and his word. If he failed and it got out, his reputation would be ruined.
He neared a corner and heard a sound on the other side. He froze and held his breath, listening to figure out if there was an actual person or maybe an animal on the other side. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Someone had to be there holding their breath too.
He quietly took out his knife and then made a quick move around the corner and placed it against the throat of someone. Only problem was that she had made the exact same move and he had her knife against his throat. Clearly a professional like himself. Either another hitman or a guard of this building. He knew there were female hitmen as well but in their line of work, no one ever crossed each other.
He took a second to take her in. Long, dark brown hair put up in a high ponytail that then had been braided. Despite the moonlight and the stars being the only light source, he could see her eyes were light grey.
"Who are you?" She asked.
There was no point in lying. Either she had heard of him or she hadn't. If she hadn't and somehow managed to escape this encounter alive and went to google his name, she would find nothing. She would have to do some heavy digging on the deep web in order to find him.
"Seth Rollins," he said.
Her lips curled up in a little smile. She had heard of him by the looks of it.
"I admire your work," she said.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Zoa Lush," she answered.
It was his turn to smile. He had heard her name too and always wondered what she looked like. From what he could tell, she was the woman that had been in the business the longest without suddenly disappearing one day. No one ever knew if people retired, got caught, or got killed. One day people stopped mentioning their name and they were gone. Zoa's name had come up for many years. He started hearing her name about two years after he went into contract killing.
"Zoa," he repeated her name. "I'm a big fan of you. It's an honor to meet you. I wish we had time to stand here and get to know each other but I'm on a job."
"So am I," she said.
"Who hired you?" He asked.
"Some guy named Karrion. There's a man up in the tower that he wants to get rid of," she said.
"I was hired by a woman named Scarlett. Same deal. Some guy up in the right side tower," he said.
"It's my kill," she said.
"Or, hear me out," he smirked. "We do the job together and cash in separately. No point in one of us not getting a payday."
She smirked back at him and slowly pulled her knife back. He did the same with his knife. They put them back in their sheaths and nodded at each other.
"Let's get up in the tower. It's a long way up," she said.
"Gotta get our cardio in," he joked.
They moved over to a window for the cellar that looked old and easy to break. He managed to get it up with his knife and held it open for her to crawl inside first. He followed after her, and they both stood still, held their breaths, and listened.
"The house is quiet," she whispered.
"Too quiet," he whispered back.
"I got your back, partner," she said.
He looked at her and smiled. For some reason it sounded cute that she called herself his partner in that moment. He had never thought of working together with anyone but seeing how this job was double booked, he would do it. She deserved this kill and a payday as much as he did. And when he was honest with himself, it would be an honor working with her. No one else would be able to claim to have done so.